Scanning Barcodes at the AskBiz Till
How to use a barcode scanner with AskBiz POS to add products to a sale instantly, assign barcodes to your inventory, and scan new stock into your system.
Key Takeaways
- A USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner works directly with AskBiz POS — no additional setup required.
- Scan a barcode at the till and the product is instantly added to the basket at the correct price.
- Use the 'Scan to add' button in Inventory to assign barcodes to products or add new stock.
- Products can have multiple barcodes — useful for different pack sizes of the same item.
Your inventory with 75 products ready to scan
AskBiz Inventory shows all your products in one place — 75 products in this example — each with price, cost, and current stock level visible at a glance. The search bar at the top lets you find any product by name, and the filters (Low stock, Out of stock, Expiring soon) help you prioritise which items need attention. Products that have barcodes assigned can be scanned directly at the till instead of searched manually, making checkout significantly faster.
Connecting a barcode scanner to AskBiz
AskBiz POS works with any standard HID (Human Interface Device) barcode scanner — plug a USB scanner into your till device and it is recognised automatically, no drivers needed. For Bluetooth scanners, pair the device through your operating system's Bluetooth settings first. Once connected, click in the product search box at the till and scan — the barcode populates the search field and the matching product is added to the basket instantly.
Assigning barcodes to products in Inventory
Go to Operations > Inventory and click Edit next to any product. In the product detail page, find the Barcode field and enter or scan the barcode number. Save the product. From that point on, scanning the barcode at the till adds that product. If a product has multiple pack sizes — for example, a 250g bag and a 1kg bag of the same product — create separate product records for each and assign the appropriate barcode to each one.
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See this in action for your business
AskBiz tracks these metrics automatically — just connect your data and start asking questions.
Start for free →Adding new stock via 'Scan to add'
The Inventory page has a prominent orange 'Scan to add' button at the top. Tap it to open the barcode-entry flow for adding new products or updating existing stock. Scan the product barcode — if it already exists in your catalogue, AskBiz finds it and lets you update the quantity. If it's a new product, you'll be prompted to enter the product name, price, cost, and category before saving. This makes goods-in fast: scan each item as it arrives and your stock count updates in real time.
Using filters to manage your barcode catalogue
Filter your inventory by Low stock or Out of stock to find products that need restocking and may need their barcodes verified. Products tagged with a sector (Retail, Restaurant, etc.) can be filtered by All sectors so you see your full catalogue across all business types. The STOCK column shows current levels at a glance — items with very low counts (like '1 left') should be reordered before they sell out and leave the barcode unresponsive at the till.
Troubleshooting barcode scan failures
If a barcode scan produces no result at the till, the most common causes are: the barcode is not yet assigned to a product in your catalogue, the scanner beam didn't read the code cleanly (try again at a different angle), or the product record is marked as inactive. Go to Operations > Inventory and search for the product by name. If it exists but has no barcode, add it in the Edit screen. If the product doesn't exist, use Scan to add to create it.